The Ticker A Look Back At The Past Week On Wall Street

WHO’S HOT

When a bank buyout in Kentucky generates interest in New York, as it did this week on Wall Street, something amazing is happening. Cardinal Bancshares has branches in five Kentucky cities and its stock was trading in the high $40s until Thursday. Then another Kentucky banking firm, Area Bancshares, offered $109 million for Cardinal, or about $60.25 a share. Investors moved in, running Cardinal up $6 Thursday. The stock was unchanged Friday at $53.50. … Boston Scientific rebounded nicely from last year’s first-quarter slump. The Natick, Mass.-based medical device maker said Wednesday its first-quarter net earnings were 40 cents per share compared to last year’s loss of a penny. The company’s stock responded, jumping $5.75 Wednesday to $48.25, rested Thursday, then closed the week up another $2.12-1/2 to $50 on Friday.

WHAT’S NOT

Nike may have a stables of superstar athletes hawking its wares. But it doesn’t have the power of the Wall Street Journal’s “Heard on the Street” column. Friday the newspaper column focused on the whether the sportware maker’s growth was slowing. The response? The stock’s growth slowed. By the end of the day, Nike had lost $1.62-1/2 to $55.87-1/2.